


Between A Rock And A Hard Place

by Dextrousleftie



Category: Naruto
Genre: Anal Sex, Gay Sex, Loss of Virginity, Love, Lust, M/M, Oral Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-23
Updated: 2016-09-06
Packaged: 2018-06-10 04:33:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6939943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dextrousleftie/pseuds/Dextrousleftie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gaara learns some important lessons about life, love, and sex from his friend Rock Lee...storyline set in the same storyline as Kakashi's Bet and Kakashi's Proposal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was springtime, and the village of Konoha was coming alive. Green flourished everywhere, and birds twittered in lively flocks in the trees. The youngest Kazekage in the history of the hidden village of Sand wandered the streets, admiring this strange and almost impossible beauty. Where Gaara came from, there were very few plants, and most of them were cacti and tough bushes like creosote.

He loved coming to Konoha at this time of year, and was glad that he’d been required to meet with the Hokage to discuss their deepening alliance. He left a lot of these talks to his sister Temari, who got along with Tsunade like a house afire. The two women would chatter together for hours about things that the redhead understood not at all. There were a great many things that he didn’t understand; he knew that. He’d been an outcast in his own village for his entire childhood, and hadn’t had a chance to learn social skills and interactions because everyone had been terrified of him.

 

Gaara walked onto one of the bridges that crossed the river, and leaned his elbows on the waist-high railing. He stared down into the water, feeling very peaceful and quite content. When he came to Konoha, not only did he get to admire and enjoy the greenery and life that was bursting forth everywhere he looked - he also got to spend time with the many friends he’d made here.

 

That included the fox boy Naruto, who’d taken Gaara under his wing as someone very much like the blonde himself. Naruto completely understood being reviled, feared, and hated because he had a demon bound up inside of him. There was nothing, the redhead had discovered, better than having someone who understood what you were going through.

 

A few years ago, he would never have imagined a life in which he had friends and people who acknowledged him. He’d even grown closer to his family – or what was left of it – since he’d first come to Konoha for the Chuunin Exam when he was thirteen. Sand had been firmly under the thumb of the evil Orochimaru at the time, and they were supposed to destroy Konoha with the help of the Song ninjas. A big part of that plot had revolved around Gaara and his abilities, but even letting the sand demon Shikaku loose had not kept him from being defeated by the combined efforts of Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto. 

 

That had been an immense shock to him – his sand had never been penetrated before, not until Sasuke’s Chidori attack had gone right through his shield during their fight in the arena. He’d gotten his first taste of pain that day, and it had frightened and thrown him so off-balance that he couldn’t think clearly enough to carry out his part of the plan. His brother and sister had had to drag him away to try to recover, but they’d been pursued by Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, and the bug boy Shino. Try though they had, his siblings couldn’t in the end keep the other children from attacking him before he’d had time to go full-form.

 

And even doing that hadn’t saved him in the end. Not even becoming the giant sand raccoon that was the true form of the demon bound up inside of him had kept Naruto from beating him. And hadn’t that been a shock for him – a shock that had woken him up. All he’d wanted to do, before that defeat, was kill people to prove his existence. But the fox boy had shown him that there were other things in life besides killing, and over time bonds had formed between him and other people. He now felt as though he were part of something, instead of being eternally outside of everything. It was an odd but wonderful experience, to discover what it was like to actually be liked by others…and perhaps even loved, as well.

 

At this thought, one of his slim hands rose to touch the symbol tattooed on his forehead. It had appeared there when his own uncle had tried to kill him, had told the little boy Gaara that his mother had hated him - and that by extension the relative he’d always thought had cared for him hated him, as well. His uncle had volunteered to put the boy down, had willingly given his life to destroy the ‘monster’. It was then that Gaara had gone more than a little mad, the pain and anguish he’d felt so terrible that they’d manifested into this symbol. It was the word for ‘love’, something he’d never imagined that he’d feel again. Or that anyone else would feel for him either. That tattoo had symbolized everything that he could never have, and had reminded him that the only thing he had in life was the killing.

 

But now it was a way for him to remember a painful time when he’d been a total outcast, a creature to be feared and despised. Those memories seemed dim to him now, but he knew that he’d never really forget them. And it was best if he didn’t. That way he could make sure that others didn’t become like he had been. 

 

He watched over the children of his village carefully, not wanting any of them to be ostracized or left out. While none of them had the burden of a demon bound up in them, there were still some who were left out of the games they played for other reasons. One boy was very shy because he had a lisp; Gaara had startled this boy by actually sitting him down and talking to him one day. He’d encouraged the boy to approach the other children and actually talk to them, that they wouldn’t laugh at him just because he stuttered. Surprisingly, the child had listened to his advice, and had gone to talk to some others who were playing ball. The redhead had crossed his fingers, but to his relief the other children had taken to the boy when they realized his impediment. They’d just thought that he didn’t play with them because he was stuck up, not realizing that it was just because he couldn’t talk very well. He’d become a sort of informal mascot, and the other children didn’t expect him to say much if he didn’t want to.

 

Gaara had been pleased by that success. He was astonished at himself, because until he’d ended up being a substitute teacher in Konoha’s Academy(when they were short on ninjas so even the teachers had been going on missions), he’d never realized that he liked children or was good with them. But kids, while they could be cruel and selfish little beasts, were also very simple. They didn’t judge Gaara or look down on him. They just thought that his abilities with sand were ultra cool. He’d been bemused when the students in his class had begged him to show them all kinds of tricks he could do with his sand, and their delighted squeals had made him feel strange but also very, very good. No one had ever looked at him with awe or wonder shining in their eyes before, or had babbled on about how they wanted to be just like him. Who, after all, would want to be like him? The innocent delight those kids had taken in him had been a balm upon Gaara’s scarred soul.

 

Temari had been amused by her brother’s bemusement. She’d thought it was very cute when the little kids clustered around her oh-so-dangerous sibling, begging him to show them his tricks yet again. Who would have believed, she’d mused as they’d started home afterward, that my baby brother, the terrible killer, would make sand animals for little kids? Kankerou had laughed heartily, as Gaara had given them both a bewildered look. But then his brother had slapped him on the back hard enough to make a normal man reel, and to his startlement his sand hadn’t rushed out to protect him from the blow. It was then that he’d realized he’d come to see his siblings as ‘safe’, that he knew that they wouldn’t hurt him. Which was why his sand hadn’t moved to protect him as it normally did.

He’d done a lot of thinking during that journey, and to his siblings’ astonishment he’d actually joined in their conversations around the fire each evening. He didn’t have much to say at first, but that he was talking at all took them aback.

 

Now here he was, just turned seventeen, the ruler of a hidden village, and an almost normal human being with friends and family. The old Gaara seemed like some strange, alien person that he didn’t even recognize anymore. He smiled slightly at this thought, dropping his hand as he stared at his own reflection in the river. He was still a bit odd-looking with the red tattoo on his forehead, the black circles around his eyes from his almost total insomnia, and the fact that he had no eyebrows at all. But not so strange-looking that people ran screaming from him in the streets. Odd he could handle.

He nodded at his reflection before puttering on down the path beside the bridge. He’d go and look for Naruto in a bit. His first stop should probably be that ramen shop, since the blonde fox boy ate enough for ten people and was addicted to ramen. But for now he just wanted to enjoy the day, to turn his face up to the sunlight that fell warm on his face and to look up at the birds wheeling in the sky overhead. He pottered along through the village and out through the gates into the forest beyond, marveling at the greenery and the cool shadowy places where the sunlight fell in dapples. He thought he might find a log somewhere and sit down to rest, since this was the closest thing he ever got to real sleep most of the time.

 

As he strolled under the trees, he became aware of a sound somewhere close by. It was a voice speaking. Gaara stopped to listen to it. It was saying: “Just five hundred more. Five hundred more, and if I can’t do it I’ll have to run backward a hundred times around Hokage mountain.”

Gaara’s hairless brows knit. Curious, he stepped softly through the bushes toward the place where the voice was coming from. He came to a clearing with a large rock in it, and saw a figure punching the face of this rock over and over again. This person was a boy of about Gaara’s age, perhaps a little older. He wore an ugly green body suit and orange – ORANGE! – Legwarmers. Very heavy weights circled his wrists and ankles, and his hair was a close cap of raven black. He was very familiar to Gaara – this was the boy who’d first fought him in the Chuunin Exam preliminary fights, and had come close to actually injuring the redhead significantly, even though he'd been using only physical attacks since he couldn’t use ninjutsu. This was the boy known as Rock Lee.

 

Gaara remembered his shock during that battle. He’d always beaten and killed his opponents easily in the past, but Lee had been something else altogether. When he’d removed the weights from his legs and dropped them, they’d heavily damaged the stone floor of the tower.

Although he’d ended up hurting this Lee’s arm and leg, and the boy’s attacks had damaged his own spine, in the end Gaara hadn’t been able to kill him. Lee had pounded him into the ground (literally), and he’d only been able to lay there in exhaustion. Then, when he’d tried one last attack, Lee’s instructor Gai had interfered. When he’d asked why the older man had stopped him, Gai had looked sad and had replied that this was a subordinate that he loved. And that had been the biggest shock for Gaara of all, that someone loved his opponent enough to protect him at all costs. Who would ever have done that for him at that time?

 

He’d fought beside Lee later against one of Orochimaru’s men, Kimamoro. In the end they’d both almost succumbed to the grey-haired boy’s attacks, because he was just that strong. But he’d also been dying, and had died just as he was about to stab Gaara with one of his bone blades. He'd remembered thinking about how loneliness made people do things like ally themselves with someone evil like Orochimaru, not caring that that person was just using them for his own selfish ends. Who knew what he might have done when he was younger, if anyone had ever shown him even a facsimile of kindness? He just didn’t know.

 

Gaara considered just leaving, but Lee suddenly whirled around toward him. The big black eyes under the thick eyebrows stared right at the place where he was standing. “Who’s there?” he called.

The redhead shrugged and stepped out of the bushes. “Hello,” he said quietly, and the other boy looked startled.

“Oh, hello, Gaara!” Lee smiled widely at him in greeting. “I’d heard that you guys had come back to Konoha. What brings you out here?”

“I was just taking a walk,” the redhead replied. “When I heard you talking…” he looked around. “Apparently to yourself,” he continued dryly.

Lee laughed. “Yes, that’s right. I give myself encouragement so that I won’t stop my training for the day until I’ve reached my goal. For example,” he waved at the rock, “I am practicing my punches until I’ve done ten thousand of them. Then I will start on my kicks.”

Gaara’s mouth dropped open a little. “Ten thousand?!” he exclaimed incredulously.

Lee looked rather embarrassed. “Well, usually it’s twenty thousand, but I’m taking it easy today,” he replied.

The redhead didn’t know what to say to this. “I see,” he said aloud after a moment. He hesitated, and then went on: “Could I sit there,” he pointed to a log nearby, “And watch you?”

Lee looked surprised. “Sure,” he said. “Except for my sensei, nobody’s ever really watched me train before. But I don’t mind.”

 

Gaara nodded and walked over to sit down on the log. He stretched his legs out in front of him as Lee turned back to his rock. “Okay, okay,” the black-haired boy muttered. “Just five hundred more. Let’s go!” and he struck the rock precisely, making little bits of stone crumble down to the ground.

The redhead watched with half-lidded eyes as the leaf nin continued with his training. Lee was an amazing fighter, all the more incredible because he couldn’t use his chakra to cast jutsus at all. If you overlooked the incredibly stupid-looking bowl haircut, as well as the awful jumpsuit and legwarmers, you realized that this boy was a formidable person. And maybe those things actually helped, because what enemy would take someone like this seriously? They’d be too busy laughing to see the bone-breaking punch or kick coming. 

His lips twitched a bit at this thought. Gaara did have a sense of humor, but many people never realized that because he was sometimes so quiet and solemn, not to mention extremely intense. When Lee was done with his training, perhaps he’d invite the other boy to go looking for Naruto with him. Lee was also a good friend of the fox boy’s, and Naruto called him ‘fuzzy eyebrows’ affectionately. Which was an appropriate nickname, since Lee’s eyebrows resembled two large caterpillars crawling across his forehead. The redhead almost broke into giggles at this thought, and had to put his hand over his mouth to suppress his laughter so that he wouldn’t interrupt Lee’s training. 

 

Because no matter how silly he might look, Rock Lee was a very nice young man, with a huge heart. You just could not hate him, as Gaara himself had discovered after the preliminary fight. He’d tried to go to the hospital to finish his wounded enemy, and he was glad now that Naruto and Shikamaru had stopped him. He was grateful to have as many friends as he did, and if he’d killed Lee he would have been minus one good friend, whom he’d come to respect very much. And that would have been a terrible shame.

 

Thank the Gods that Tsunade had been able to heal Lee’s back, he thought silently, because Gaara simply couldn’t see the boy being anything else but a ninja. Watching him train now, the redhead gained even more respect for Lee. He’d never had to work for his abilities - he’d gotten them at birth when the demon had been bound to him. He couldn’t even imagine just how hard that Lee had worked to become as good as he was. That took extreme dedication and fortitude, as well as a will ofsteel. There were only a few people in this world that Gaara admired, but Rock Lee had become one of them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaara's innocently curious question leads to something completely unexpected...

Lee finally finished with his training for the day. He stood panting for a moment, stretching all of his muscles. Then he turned to look at Gaara, who was still sitting quietly on the log. The redhead didn’t seem bored at all. He walked over to sit down beside the Kazekage of Sand. “Mm, that felt good,” he said cheerfully as he stretched his arms over his head. 

 

“You like to train,” Gaara noted in that calm, surprisingly deep voice of his.

 

“Of course! I love it,” Lee replied happily. “Don’t you?”

 

Gaara shrugged. “Not really. But then, I don’t need to train as much as you do. I don’t think anyone does,” he added dryly.

 

Lee laughed. “I suppose not,” he cocked his head as he looked at Gaara. “So why were you out taking a walk in the woods? Aren’t you supposed to be talking to Tsunade-sama?”

 

Gaara’s lips twitched slightly. “No, Temari is taking care of that. They didn’t seem to need my presence.” He looked up at the greenery overhead. “So I came out here to enjoy the day. I like living in Sand, but we have very few green things growing there.” 

 

“Yes, that’s true,” Lee agreed. “And it really is a beautiful day,” he added, tilting his head up a little as well.

 

 

The two boys sat in silence for a short while, both just taking pleasure in the warm sunlight, the rustling of the leaves in a slight breeze, and the twittering of birdsong. Finally, Gaara said: “I was going to find Naruto,” he told Lee, “Do you want to go with me?” 

 

“Sure,” the other boy replied. “It’s always fun to hang around with Naruto-kun. Maybe we’ll see some of our other friends too,” he said happily. 

 

“Yes,” Gaara replied. “Perhaps your teammates?” he added. 

 

Lee shook his head. “Oh, we won’t see them. They’re both off with their boyfriends.” 

 

Gaara halted in his rise, a frown passing over his face. “Boyfriends?” he repeated. 

 

“Yes, that’s right,” Lee bounced to his feet, as the sand-user just stared at him. “What?” he said, seeing the odd expression on Gaara’s face. 

 

“You said ‘boyfriends’. Hyuuga Neji is a boy,” the redhead said slowly.

 

Lee scratched at his head. “That’s right.” He was puzzled about the other boy’s reaction to his statement. 

 

Gaara’s frown deepened. “Boys can have...boyfriends?”

 

Lee’s fuzzy eyebrows knit. “Well, yes. Sometimes. And girls can have girlfriends, too. Most of the time it’s a man and a woman, but occasionally those of the same…err…sex do date each other.”

 

“I see,” Gaara said. “There is so much I do not understand about people,” he continued. 

 

Lee glanced at him. “What do you mean?” 

 

The redhead shrugged. “I grew up so isolated, that often times I do not understand people or what they do. I’ve seen Temari and Kankerou with their boyfriends and girlfriends, of course, especially Temari. She’s had many boyfriends. Sometimes I’ve seen them kiss….” He trailed off as his hairless brows knit. 

 

Lee felt compassion run through him. Gaara had had such a terrible childhood that he really couldn’t imagine it. Everyone in Sand had hated and feared the boy with the demon bound up inside of him. He wondered what to say, but before he could say anything Gaara continued quietly: “I don’t always understand normal interactions between people. Why do people…date? Kiss? Hold hands? I don’t understand it.”

 

Lee looked surprised. Then those mint-green eyes slid his way. “Can you tell me, Lee?” he asked quietly.

 

Lee’s mouth opened and closed as he struggled to understand the fact that Gaara didn’t seem to comprehend anything about why people dated or were intimate together. “Umm…People, uh, date because they like each other,” he said.

 

Gaara just stared at him. “Like each other,” he repeated contemplatively. “But if that were so…” he trailed off as he stared at Lee. “I like you, Lee,” he remarked. 

 

Lee felt his cheeks flooding with color. “Uh, it’s not that kind of liking,” he stammered desperately.

 

“Then what kind of liking is it?” the redhead said in puzzlement.

 

“Err…it’s the kind of liking where people want to…uh, be together,” Lee said, squirming at having this conversation with Gaara.

 

Another frown. “Be together? We’re together right now,” he waved a hand at both himself and the martial artist. 

 

Lee turned even redder, which made Gaara stare at him. He wondered why Lee now resembled a cherry tomato. “It’s not that kind of being together either,” the black-haired boy choked. 

 

Gaara cocked his head. “I don’t understand,” he said. It was obvious that he didn’t. 

 

Lee struggled to think of a way to explain something so embarrassing. “A couple wants to…uh…be together…erm…intimately.” He stuttered.

 

“Intimately,” Gaara repeated. “What does that mean?” 

 

Lee wanted to flee from the clearing, but he stood his ground to help his poor puzzled friend understand. Manfully he said: “They want to have…SEX together!” he almost shouted, finally getting it out. 

 

Blank, mint-green eyes stared at him. Lee slowly began to realize the awful truth – the redhead didn’t know what sex was. And why not? The way he’d been raised, where would he ever have seen people being intimate together in any way? Only lately had he seen his sister and brother kissing their boyfriends and girlfriends. Those must have seen like alien actions to the boy. Of course he wanted to understand. Lee wished desperately that it were someone else explaining this – anyone else. But the most likely candidate for Gaara to ask, besides him, would be Naruto. And the fox boy seemed to know very little about the subject himself. Who knew what he’d tell Gaara? He’d probably confuse the redhead even more. 

 

To his horror, poor Rock Lee came to the realization that he was going to have to give the birds and the bees talk to his friend himself. His vocal cords were trying to seize up. But somehow he got his tongue to work. “Sex is when two people…when a man and a woman…or a man and a man…or a woman and a woman…” he stopped to take a deep breath. “They…come together. Well, their…body parts do, anyway.”

 

“Body parts?” Gaara said. 

 

“Uh, yes. The man’s,” his black eyes darted to the front of the redhead’s long, wine-colored coat, “Penis…goes into the woman’s…” he shuddered. “Private parts,” he choked out, unable to say the word. “And they…it feels good for both of them, and sometimes they make a baby….” 

 

Silence. Gaara was knitting his naked brows again. “A man’s penis,” he began thoughtfully. “What does a woman have?” 

 

“You’ve never seen a naked woman?” Lee asked desperately. 

A shake of the red head. “No. What woman would take her clothes off around me?” 

 

Sympathy shot through Lee again. “Well, they have a…slit. Where the penis goes.” 

 

Gaara frowned. He was thinking about his penis. That soft length of tissue that hung between his legs. “How does it go in?” he questioned. 

 

Lee blinked. “What do you mean?” 

 

“The penis. How does it go in the woman?” 

 

“I…err…when it gets hard….” Lee began uncertainly. He pulled at the collar of his green jumpsuit, trying to breathe properly. 

 

Another, deeper, frown. “It gets hard?” Gaara repeated. “The penis gets hard?”

 

A gurgle. Lee gaped at him. “Y-You mean that yours has n-never gotten hard?” he said in disbelief. 

 

Gaara shook his head. “Is it supposed to?” he asked.

 

Lee didn’t know quite how to answer this question. “M-Most guys…theirs do,” he said. "When they’re together with someone – or they touch themselves.” 

 

The redhead latched onto the last part of that sentence. “Touch themselves?” his mint-green eyes bored into Lee’s. “How do they touch themselves?” 

 

Lee was now sweating heavily. “Urgh…they t-touch their…penises,” he managed to say. “And they get hard, and it feels good to them.” 

 

“Feels good,” Gaara said musingly. “Like when you form bonds with people? That kind of good?” he asked.

 

Lee nodded vigorously. “Only much better.”

 

“Better,” he paused, a curious expression on his face. Then he looked at Lee intently. “Would you show me, Lee?” he asked.

 

Stunned silence. “Uh, uh, uh…” the martial artist made small noises, because he couldn’t seem to get his brain or mouth to work anymore. His black eyes were even bigger and rounder than normal, and looked like they were popping out of his head. “S-S-Show you?!” he blurted out.

 

Gaara nodded simply. “Show me how to touch myself. So that my penis gets hard,” he said.

 

Lee felt dizzy. This was simply not happening. The Kazekage of the Hidden Village of Sand was not asking Lee to show him how to masturbate. It wasn’t that he didn’t find Gaara rather attractive…the other boy was quite handsome with that porcelain skin, the startling red hair that was almost blood-red, and those astonishing mint-green eyes, surrounded by black circles like very thick kohl…While Lee had something of a crush on Sakura, he’d always rather secretly had one on his teammate Neji, as well. They might be rivals, but the Hyuuga was also very handsome, forceful, skilled…and he liked other men. But he’d never had the courage to do anything about that crush, and he wasn’t really Neji’s type, anyway. But here was Gaara, who shared those same qualities as the Hyuuga… and who was now asking Lee to teach him how to masturbate…he wondered if he was going to just pass out right here and now. 

 

Gaara was waiting patiently for him to collect himself. He swallowed thickly. “I could… I suppose I could…do that,” Lee said hoarsely.

 

Gaara looked faintly pleased. “Okay. When?”

 

Lee stiffened a little. “Err…I don’t know…maybe tonight?” he began. 

 

“Why not now?” the redhead asked, stunning him into silence once more. 

 

“Well, because we’re out in the open!” Lee squeaked. 

 

Gaara glanced around. “There’s nobody else here,” he noted coolly.

 

So there wasn’t. And most likely nobody would come to the clearing besides them. Lee felt trickles of sweat running down his temples as he gasped: “I guess you’re right. We c-c-could d-do it here.”

 

Gaara nodded. “So what do we do?” he asked. 

 

“Y-You should…take your clothes off,” Lee began, wiping at his forehead. He could feel his hands shaking. 

 

The redhead slid his sand gourd off of his back, and set it down. Then his hands went to the front of his coat, to remove the leather straps and breastplate that he wore over it. His fingers were nimble, and he didn’t look embarrassed about taking his clothes off in front of someone else. Once the leather was gone, he began to unbutton the long, wine-colored coat. Lee watched him, standing still, while his heart beat wildly in his chest. 

 

Gaara pulled the coat off of his shoulders and set it on the log. Then he pulled off his black undershirt, and the shields on the front of his calves. His hands went to the front of his pants, while Lee stared at a pale-skinned, muscular chest crowned with dark-pink nipples. There was no hair on Gaara’s chest either, Lee noted dizzily. The redhead began to push his pants down to his ankles. He straightened up, revealing long, muscular legs, narrow hips, and a cock that was nice-looking even though flaccid. It was surrounded by a froth of red pubic hair, the only hair he seemed to have on his body besides that atop his head.

 

He looked at Lee. He saw that the black-haired boy was staring at him, at his body. He glanced down at himself, not seeing what seemed to fascinate Lee so. Then he looked up at the other boy again. “What now?” he asked.

 

Lee broke out of his reverie. “Umm…you touch yourself,” he said. Gaara just stared at him. “Y-You touch your penis,” Lee explained hurriedly. 

 

Gaara looked down at his groin. He frowned, then reached down with his hand to touch his flaccid cock. Nothing happened. “I did it,” he said to Lee.

 

Lee sighed. “That’s not the way I meant…” he protested.

 

“How did you mean?” Gaara asked impatiently. He directed an intense look at Lee. “Show me,” he said again.

 

Lee gulped. As one in a dream, he found himself walking toward Gaara. The redhead stood still in all of his glorious nakedness, waiting. Lee extended a hand, not really believing that he was doing this. And then his hand touched that pretty cock, curled around it, began to stroke. He heard Gaara give forth a faint sound of startlement, but his eyes were fastened on the length of flesh he held in his hand.

 

At first there was no reaction, then when he spit into his hand and resumed his steady rubbing, it twitched and jerked in his grip. It began to thicken perceptibly, and he heard the redhead gasp and say his name. Lee was holding his breath as he continued with his caresses, hearing Gaara begin to pant. And oh, the cock he held was so very pretty! It was half-hard now, the pink tip oozing precum. Gaara shuddered. “Lleee…” he moaned. “Why does it…feel this way?” 

 

“That’s how it’s supposed to feel,” Lee said hoarsely. “That’s what feeling good is.” 

 

“Ooo,” He had to look up at Gaara’s face, which was flushing a deep-pink color. His mouth was open, his mint-green eyes blank and glazed. He was so mesmerized by this sight that he almost stopped the movement of his hand. But then the redhead pushed his hips forward a bit as though to remind him.

 

Lee dropped his black eyes down, and saw that Gaara was now completely hard. The pink-and-white cock jerked in his grasp once more. Using his thumb, he gathered up some of the fluid leaking from the tip, and used that as lubrication as he began to move his hand faster. Gaara’s hands spasmed at his sides, and he made small sounds of pleasure in the back of his throat. Lee felt his own erection pressing against the front of his green jumpsuit. This was just so exciting! The astonishing thought that he was going to make the Kazekage of the Sand Village come for the very first time with his hand…it was a wonder that he didn’t come himself, right here and now. 

 

To Gaara, a wild tide of some unknown emotion was rising up inside of him. His body shook and his chest heaved. This feeling was much like pain – only completely different. It was something that he’d never experienced before in his entire life. His nerves felt like they were on fire. And all of this feeling seemed to be pooling down there, where Lee’s hand was moving on his now (startlingly) erect penis. He could feel it…something was coming, something huge and amazing and rather terrifying…He heard himself make several loud grunting sounds, and then whatever it was swept over him in a rush. It felt like his sand, flowing out of his body…except that this was a white fluid, spurting out of the tip. 

 

He felt his legs giving out, as darkness rose up in front of his eyes. He lost touch of himself for a short while, blacking out. He felt hands grab him and hold him up. His head had come to rest on Lee’s shoulder, and he panted as his body throbbed luxuriously from whatever had just happened. He understood now. He understood why Temari seemed so eager to kiss and touch those guys she dated, and why Kankerou got so goofy over a pretty girl. This, he knew, was a big part of the human interaction that he hadn’t understood up until now. He felt the warmth of the other boy’s body, and he felt a deep gratitude to Rock Lee for showing him this. He would never be the same – and he owed it all to this man. Lee was a wonderful friend. Hopefully he could do something for the other boy to show him just how grateful that Gaara was to him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaara returns the favor, and Lee ends up imparting some wisdom(whether he likes it or not).

"Are you okay, Gaara?” he heard Lee’s concerned voice ask, and fingers stroked through his hair tenderly. 

 

He opened his eyes, seeing the other boy’s black ones looking into his. The redhead stirred at last, his voice rather hoarse as he answered: “Yes.”

 

Lee looked pleased. Gaara felt another surge of gratitude. “Thank you, Lee,” he said softly. 

 

The martial artist smiled that good guy smile of his. “I was happy to help,” he replied truthfully. He had thoroughly enjoyed watching the Kazekage get his first taste of pleasure ever, and his own body was still throbbing and tight just from watching. He hoped that it would settle down soon, or he’d be walking funny when they went to find Naruto.

 

Gaara started to push away from Lee’s body, but stilled when he felt something hard pressing against his abdomen. He looked down as he stepped back, and saw that the front of the green bodysuit was tented at the groin. The person he’d been ten minutes ago wouldn’t have known the significance of this, but he understood now. Lee’s penis had gotten hard too. 

 

He blinked as he stared at it, and Lee’s black eyes followed his gaze. Realizing what the redhead was looking at, Lee’s face flamed. Despite the fact that he’d just given Gaara a hand job, he was still embarrassed about the fact that the other boy knew that he had an erection. “Uh…” he stammered. 

 

Gaara’s mint green eyes lifted to his. “Your penis is hard,” he said, making Lee’s face turn even redder. 

 

“Y-Yes,” Lee gulped. “I’m sorry.”

 

“Why?” Gaara asked, cocking his head in puzzlement. 

 

Lee blinked in turn. “Why is it hard?” he asked.

 

The Kazekage shook his head. “Why are you sorry?” he replied. 

 

“Oh. Well, I…” Lee squirmed desperately. “It’s just…” But he was having trouble articulating his embarrassment, since Gaara wouldn’t understand just why Lee was feeling this way. Shame was not an emotion that the redhead ever seemed to have felt. 

 

After patiently waiting for Lee to speak articulately, Gaara decided that he really didn’t care that much. He met those black eyes and said quietly: “Take your clothes off, Lee.” 

 

“What?!” the martial artist exclaimed, his eyes practically bugging out of his head.

 

“I want to touch you. Like you touched me,” Gaara said steadily. 

 

“Oh. Oh. I see,” Lee gulped, but his cock jumped at the thought of Gaara’s long, slim fingers touching it. “I’m…” 

 

“Do it,” the command in the redhead’s voice made Lee react instinctively. When he spoke like this, it was easy to see why Gaara was the youngest Kazekage in the history of Sand. 

 

The martial artist slowly took off his jacket, his mouth going dry and his hands shaking a bit. The weights followed, being carefully laid over the log. The still-naked Gaara watched him intently as he fumbled with the orange legwarmers. Finally, all he had left was the body suit – and he took a deep breath before squirming out of it to stand naked in front of Gaara. Half of him turned dark-red with his blush, as the redhead’s mint-green gaze wandered over his body slowly. Lee closed his eyes, still torn between desire and acute embarrassment. 

 

Gaara looked Lee over. The other boy was leanly-muscular, with not an ounce of fat on his entire body. His eyes settled on the cock rising in a spike from the black, curly pubic hair at Lee’s groin. Fascination entered his eyes, since he’d been so intent on what he was feeling while the martial artist was jerking him off that he hadn’t been coherent enough to look too closely at his own erection. 

 

He stepped forward and reached out to lightly cup his fingers around the cock, making Lee give forth a small gasp. It was hot, and hard, but the skin over it was very soft. Gaara stared down at the penis he held, and then slowly slid his fingers down the length of it. Lee shuddered and moaned. The Kazekage moved his fingers again, learning all about the fascinating foreskin. 

 

He was so intent on what he was doing that he didn’t see the way that Lee’s face twisted in pleasure, nor did he notice the way the martial artist’s hips were rocking desperately. The head with its cap of close-cut black hair went back as a wavering moan broke forth from Lee’s throat. Gaara hadn’t been touching him for long, but he was so excited from what had already taken place that he was already ready to come. His chest heaved as the redhead’s thumb ran over the tip of his cock instinctively to gather up the precum leaking from it. That was just too much, he couldn’t take it any more…He came with a loud cry, spurting out over Gaara’s hand. 

 

The other boy jumped a little, then stared in fascination as the white stuff slopped out over his fingers in a rush. Gaara lifted his fingers to look at the semen glistening on it. This was the same stuff, he realized after a moment, that had come out of his penis when that wonderful feeling had rushed over him. So apparently all boys had this in them, and it came out when the penis was touched. He was learning so much today! 

 

He looked at Lee, who was panting and slowly recovering. The black eyes flickered open. “Gaara,” he said in a voice that made the redhead feel a spurt of warmth inside of his chest. “That felt great.” 

 

“Did it? So you felt good too?” the redhead asked. 

 

The martial artist nodded. “Yeah,” he croaked. “But…we should get cleaned up and dressed now. Anybody might come along.”

 

Gaara shrugged, wondering what he should do about the white stuff on his fingers. But seeing where his gaze was going, Lee went over to his jacket and found a towel in one pocket. “I use it to wipe sweat from my face normally,” he explained to Gaara as he brought it over. “Here, clean your fingers off.” 

 

The redhead took the towel and wiped his fingers, and some droplets that had fallen on his stomach. Lee watched him, admiring the beautiful porcelain skin over lean, rolling muscles. How gorgeous Gaara was! The mint-green eyes rose and saw the admiration in Lee’s gaze. He looked startled, wondering about it. Lee shook his head. “You’re very attractive, Gaara,” he said quietly.

 

“Attractive?” the redhead repeated. 

 

Lee nodded. “Handsome, sexy, and very cool,” he replied.

 

Gaara looked perplexed. He knew what the word ‘handsome’ and ‘cool’ meant (hanging around kids had taught him that second word), but sexy? “Sexy?” he repeated. “What’s that, Lee?” 

 

The martial artist wondered how to explain that word to someone who hadn’t even known about sex up until now. “Well, like I told you, having sex is when two people’s body parts come together. To be sexy is to make other people want to have sex with you by the way you look or act. When you’re sexy, people desire you and want to have sex with you.” 

 

“I see,” Gaara said slowly. “What makes me sexy, Lee?” 

 

He wasn’t fishing for compliments; clearly he just wanted to understand the mechanics of desire. 

 

“Umm…part of it is your looks,” Lee began. “Your hair, and your skin, and your eyes too.”

 

Gaara’s hairless brows knit. “What about them?” he said.

 

“They’re…unusual. Your hair is almost blood-red, and it looks good against your pale skin. And your eyes…I’ve never seen anybody else with eyes even close to that color before.” Lee explained.

 

“Oh.” Gaara considered this as Lee picked up his clothes and prepared to slip them back on.

 

“Can I ask you a question?" The martial artist asked as he wriggled into his green bodysuit.

 

“Of course,” Gaara replied. 

 

“Those black circles around your eyes…they were from you not sleeping because of the demon that was bound up on you,” Lee began, turning to look at him.

 

Gaara nodded. “Yes, I couldn’t sleep for more than a few minutes at a time lest Shukaku rise up and take over.”

 

“But…” Lee scratched at his head in puzzlement, “Akatsuki pulled the demon out of you, so you don’t have to worry about that anymore. So why do you still have those circles around your eyes, Gaara?”

 

“Well,” the redhead shrugged. “I went my whole life unable to sleep properly. Just because I can doesn’t mean that I’m able to. I can’t seem to break the habit of a lifetime.”

 

“Oh,” Lee gave him a compassionate look. “That’s too bad.” 

 

Gaara sighed. “I’m used to it,” he walked over to pick up his own clothing, pulling it on slowly. 

 

Lee felt a pang of regret as that pale-skinned beauty disappeared under the enveloping clothes. Once they were dressed, they left the clearing together to return to Konoha. Lee might have felt a bit awkward about what had happened between them, except that Gaara talked to him normally and didn’t reference their time in the woods. 

 

They wandered down the streets together, finally arriving at the Ichiraku Ramen restaurant. Poking his head under the awning, Lee looked around. “I don’t see him,” he said to the redhead. 

 

Gaara nodded. “We could get something to eat anyway,” he said. “While we wait for him to arrive.”

 

Lee grinned. He knew that Naruto was bound to come to Ichiraku sometime today; and since it was almost dinner time they probably wouldn’t have to wait too long. The two boys sat down on stools side-by-side and ordered bowls of ramen, then talked for a bit while they waited for it to be done.

 

Suddenly, a blonde whirlwind descended upon them. “Hey, guys!” a light, happy voice remarked as Naruto plopped down on a stool. “Gaara, Fuzzy Eyebrows! What are you doing?”

 

“Eating,” Gaara replied succinctly, which made the blonde chuckle at his literalness. 

 

“Okay. Hey, Pops, give me my usual,” he called to the older man behind the counter. Sparkling blue eyes turned to them. “Man, I’m glad that you came to Konoha, Gaara,” Naruto said enthusiastically. “We can practice against each other sometime. What do you say?” 

 

“Of course,” the redhead said. 

 

“Yeah!” he pumped an arm in the air, which made Lee smile slightly. “And you have to come too, Fuzzy Eyebrows. Okay?” 

 

The martial artist made an assenting noise. The three of them chatted together until the food arrived, and they all dug in. Especially Naruto, who happily scarfed down at least six bowls of ramen without stopping for breath. The other two watched him in amazement. “Where does he put it all?” Gaara whispered in disbelief to Lee. 

 

The martial artist shook his black head. “I don’t know. Kakashi-sensei has a theory about a hollow leg…” To his pleasure, Gaara actually laughed quietly at this.

 

Finally the blonde was done, and sat back contentedly patting his bulging stomach. “That was great,” he commented. 

 

Gaara shook his red head as he looked at his friend. “It’s a wonder you don’t explode, Naruto,” he said in wonderment. 

 

The fox boy grinned. “I eat like that all the time,” he replied. “So I’m used to it by now.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lee continues to teach Gaara about sex.

The three friends talked together for awhile, catching up on everything going on in both Konoha and Sand. But Naruto finally had to desert them, since he had to go and join Kakashi for some special training the Jounin wanted to give him. He waved merrily at Lee and Gaara as he departed, and they both waved back as he darted away like a blonde lightning bolt. “He sure is energetic,” the Kazekage remarked. 

 

Lee laughed. “Yeah. Even me and Gai-sensei don’t have that much energy. I don’t know where he gets it all from.” 

 

“I should go and see how Temari is getting along with Tsunade-sama,” the redhead remarked with a sigh.

 

Lee grinned at him. “The things you have to do to be Kazekage,” he teased. “Talking to a couple of women…how do you stand it?” 

 

Gaara snorted faintly. “Since you’ve never had to deal with my sister, you have no idea,” he replied dryly. 

 

They began to walk down the street together, heading for the Hokage’s office. Lee had decided to go with Gaara until there, and then he’d leave the redhead to go and find Gai-sensei. Gaara was thinking hard as they walked. “Lee?” he said. 

 

The martial artist asked: “Yeah?” without thinking. He should have known that any questions that Gaara asked him right now would be ones he didn’t want to answer. 

 

“You said earlier that two boys could have sex together. How do they do that?” 

 

Lee actually came to a halt, his mouth dropping open as he gaped at Gaara. 'Oh, man,' he thought in horror as sweat bearded on his brow, 'I have opened a can of worms this time!' 

 

“Erm...what do you mean?” he asked desperately, hoping that he could divert Gaara’s relentless curiosity.

 

“You said the woman has a slit that the man’s penis goes into. But boys don’t have a slit…” he indicated his own groin with his slender fingers. “So where does the penis go when two men have sex?”

 

Lee groaned, wishing his could sink into the ground right here and now. Gaara was just too damn smart for HIS own good. And he’d thought that the earlier sex talk was uncomfortable! But…Gaara deserved to know. Moreover, he probably wouldn’t give up asking until Lee told him, which could lead to some embarrassing situations if he asked around other people. So he took a deep breath, straightened his shoulders, and valiantly began to answer a question he would rather not have if he could have avoided it at all.

 

Lee took a deep breath. “Umm, let’s go over there,” he pointed at a nearby alleyway. Gaara gave him a puzzled look, but the martial artist did not want to have this conversation out where all passerby could hear. He walked away, and the redhead followed him silently. Once they were in the softly shadowed space, Lee turned to look into those intense mint-green eyes. “Okay,” he said. “Remember I told you that the man’s penis goes into the woman’s slit when they have sex?” 

 

“Yes,” Gaara replied quietly. “Well, when two men have sex they…one man’s penis goes into the other man’s…backside,” Lee began with a gulp.

 

Silence. The redhead’s hairless brows were knitting again in bafflement. “Backside?” he repeated.

 

Lee sighed. “His…Erm…butt,” he went on bravely. 

 

More silence. Gaara was thinking hard about his own ‘backside’. And he was contemplating the way his penis had gotten hard in Lee’s hand. But there was no place for a hard penis to go in his butt, was there? Unless…his eyes widened a bit with understanding, although there was no shock mingled in. Gaara didn’t know enough about social conventions to know that many people considered anal sex perverted. “Oh, you mean in the anus,” he said aloud in satisfaction over having figured it out. 

 

Lee made a choked sound, but finally said rather hoarsely: “Yes, that’s right.”

 

Gaara cocked his head. “Have you ever put your penis in another guy’s anus, Lee?” he asked innocently. 

 

The martial artist’s tongue felt like it was sticking to the roof of his mouth. He nodded mutely, and the redhead frowned thoughtfully. “And has another guy ever put his penis in your anus?” he went on curiously. 

 

“Yes,” Lee gasped. “I…errr…like it both ways.”

 

“Both ways?”

 

“Yes. Some guys like to only put their penises in another guy, not get one inside of themselves. And other guys only like to have one put in, not be the one putting it in. But those who like to do both ‘like it both ways’.” 

 

“I see,” Gaara remarked. “And does it feel good? To have one put in you and to put it in?” 

 

“Yes to both,” Lee replied. “They both feel good.” 

 

Gaara nodded. “Better than touching yourself?”

 

“Much better,” Lee said. 

 

“Then…would you put your penis in me, Lee? So that I can feel what it’s like?” 

 

Stunned silence. The martial artist’s black eyes were as wide as saucers. It was apparent that Gaara was perfectly serious; his handsome face was as grave as it always was. “Uh, uh, uh…” he stammered.

 

Gaara waited patiently for him to get himself back together. Lee finally managed to make his mouth work properly again. “Shouldn’t you…find someone you really like to do that with you, Gaara?” he said as his fuzzy eyebrows knit.

 

The redhead shrugged. “I really like you, Lee,” he pointed out.

 

“Yes, but I mean I different kind of like,” Lee began. 

 

“What kind do you mean?” the Kazekage of Sand questioned. The martial artist scratched at his bowl haircut. Gods, it was impossible to explain attraction and the kind of liking he was talking about. Gaara was just too naive. He had no examples to reference. And the truth was – the thought of getting to have sex with the exquisite Gaara made him nearly shiver with lust. 

 

“I-I suppose that I could do that,” he began. “Have sex with you, I mean. When and where do you want to do it? We need someplace private,” he added. “Not out in the forest, either. I’d rather do it in place with a bed, if possible.” 

 

Gaara considered this. He frowned. “Perhaps not in my rooms. Temari would be bound to hear us if we made any noise, since her bedroom is right next to mine. She’d come charging in, thinking someone was attacking me, and we might not get enough time to explain before she hurt you.”

 

Lee gulped at the image that formed at the redhead’s words. He was a bit scared of the blonde woman – she was fiercely protective of her little brother. And he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to fight back, since she wasn’t an enemy. “Okay,” he said hurriedly, “Not in you rooms, then. You could come to mine…” he went on. “If you can get away.” 

 

Gaara nodded. “I can do that. I wander most of the night anyway; Temari is used to it. I’ll come to your house. Where is it?” 

 

“I’ll show you, it’ll be quicker,” Lee replied. “Before we go to the Hokage’s office. This way” he left the alley and went swiftly down the street, followed by Gaara. 

 

The two boys made their way through the crowds until they came to Lee’s apartment building. He went right to his front door, which was on the first floor. “If you’ll just knock, I’ll be waiting,” he told the redhead. 

 

Gaara made an assenting gesture. “I’ll come sometime after sunset,” he replied. “Temari will be busy with a guy she met a few days ago. Once they go into her bedroom…” he paused, something connecting behind those mint-green eyes, “To have sex,” he finished. “I’ll leave and come here.”

 

“All right,” Lee still felt a great sense of unreality, but it was joined by a great deal of anticipation. He couldn’t quite believe this, but he also couldn’t wait for tonight either. “I guess we’d better go to the Hokage’s office. They must be wondering where you are by now.” 

 

Gaara snorted. “Hardly,” he said dryly as he and Lee started back down the street. “They’ll probably still be gossiping. Temari told me to go outside and find something to do – she also told me to have fun,” he went on. 

 

Thinking about what they’d done in the clearing, Lee had to smile a little. That had definitely been fun for both of them. And tonight would be even more fun. But still, he needed to know something. “Gaara?” he said hesitantly.

 

“Yes?” 

 

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather have sex with a woman?” Lee asked.

 

The redhead considered this question as they walked along side-by-side. “If you’ve never done it before, how do you know you might not like a female instead?” Lee added. 

 

“When I think about what happened in the clearing earlier,” Gaara began slowly, “My penis starts to get hard again. That is normal, right?” he asked uncertainly.

 

Lee nodded vigorously. “Oh, yes, definitely normal.” He replied ruefully. 

 

Gaara made a gesture with one slim white hand. “And when I think about doing this thing with you, Lee, it happens again. But if I think about being with a woman, like one of my fan club…” there was horror in his voice. In the last few years many of the female ninja of Sand had decided that their Kazekage was ultra-cool, handsome, and sexy. They threw themselves on him with abandon. “It doesn’t get hard,” he went on. “At all.” 

 

Lee felt relief coiling in his belly. The truth was he didn’t want to talk Gaara out of this. But he’d had to make sure. “That could just be because they’re your fan club,” he remarked with a smile. “They’re pretty scary.”

 

“Perhaps,” Gaara agreed with a slight lifting of his lips. “But I’d still rather try this thing with you, Lee. If you want to,” he went on doubtfully, for the first time casting the martial artist an uncertain glance. Before this, it had not occurred to him that perhaps Lee didn’t want to have sex with him.

 

“I do,” Lee replied with such eagerness in his voice that it made Gaara relax. 

 

To his surprise, the black-eyed boy reached out and grabbed his hand. He looked down at their twined fingers with a frown. “What are you doing?” He asked. 

 

“I just wanted to hold your hand,” Lee explained, turning a bit red but not releasing the slender white fingers. “It’s what lovers do sometimes,” he added. “To be close to each other in public when they can’t kiss or touch each other more intimately.”

 

“Oh,” Gaara found that he rather liked the heat of Lee’s hand against his skin, and the hardness. It was a strange ritual, this holding hands, but he couldn’t dislike it. Another thought had occurred to Lee, and he said to the bemused redhead: “Gaara, have you ever been kissed by anyone?”

 

“No. But I’ve seen Temari and Kankerou kissing their boyfriends and girlfriends,” the other boy replied.

 

“I’d like to try it with you, to show you how to kiss. We could do it now, we wouldn’t have to wait until tonight like with the actual…errr…sex.”

 

Gaara was interested in this proposition. He stopped walking. “Should we do it here?” he asked. 

 

Lee looked around rather wildly. “No!” he exclaimed. 

 

Gaara lifted hairless brows at his vehemence, then pointes to yet another convenient alley. He was learning. “In there?” he said. 

 

Lee nodded. They went into the alley together, and Gaara turned to Lee. “What do we do?” he asked.

 

“I…umm…put my mouth on yours,” Lee said. “Just like you’ve seen your brother and sister do.”

 

“Okay,” the redhead waited passively, and Lee tentatively stepped up close to him. He reached up to cup one of Gaara’s cheeks with his hand, then brought their lips together. At first he only pressed his mouth to the other boy’s, enjoying the taste and feel of those firm, pink lips. He stood still, and Gaara stared at him nearly cross-eyed. He was wondering what happened next, but then Lee moved his mouth very slowly over Gaara’s. It was a strange sensation, but one that he found he rather liked.

 

Lee kissed him delicately, carefully, never pressing too firmly or trying to get the redhead to open his mouth. It was too early for tongues and deeper kissing just yet. He heard a wisp of a moan, and felt pride well up in him. He spanned the redhead’s waist with his hands as the kiss continued. Gaara made a small sound, and tried to press his body closer to Lee’s instinctively. The martial artist moaned in turn at the press of that hard body against his own. He could feel the redhead’s erection, even through the long wine-colored coat. 

 

Gaara shivered a bit in Lee’s arms, feeling the almost unknown sensation of passion rising up in him once more. His hands came up to close over Lee’s shoulders, because it felt like his legs were going to buckle out from under him if he didn’t have something to hold onto. His lips parted naturally, and to his astonishment something slithered gently into his mouth. It was Lee’s tongue! 

 

He would have pulled back in his startlement, but just then the martial artist’s tongue flicked softly over his own. And that felt so good, so amazing, that he opened his mouth wider and made a begging sound to tell the other boy to do it again. Lee was happy to do just that. He began to gently but inexorably ravish Gaara’s sweet mouth with his tongue, letting it dance over the other boy’s before it flittered away to lave at the roof of his mouth. Oh how he liked the noises that Gaara made! He was glad that he’d had lessons in kissing from his last lover, an older boy who’d been a very good tutor. He had to struggle not to grab the redhead’s ass and squeeze it in his excitement. Not that Gaara would probably object to that, but Le was just too much of a gentleman to grope someone during their first kiss…

 

He finally pulled away for two reasons. One, he needed desperately to breathe. And two – if he kept kissing that sweet mouth, he was going to give Gaara his first lesson in sex right here in this dirty alley. He looked at the panting, flushed redhead and almost lost it anyway. He shuddered and closed his eyes as he fought against himself. “That’s kissing,” he said hoarsely after a moment. “What did you think?”

 

“It was kind of strange, but I liked it,” Gaara replied. “Especially that thing you did with your tongue.”

 

“Well, we’ll try some more of it tonight before we have sex,” Lee said. 

 

“I’d like that,” the redhead said. 

 

“Okay. We’d better get going now,” Lee said as he pulled himself together. 'Before I go too far,' he thought to himself.

 

Gaara looked as though he’d like to argue, but at the last he shrugged and went with Lee out of the alley. When they were in the street, the martial artist started to turn toward the Hokage’s building. But to his surprise, a hand caught a hold of his. He looked at Gaara, who merely stared back at him. Then he glanced down at their hands, and found himself smiling. He didn’t try to pull away, and the two of them went down the street together holding hands.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lee shows Gaara the joys of sex.

Lee was in shock. He wandered home with a thoroughly befuddled look on his face, his black eyes so glazed that it was clear that he wasn’t seeing anything at all that was going on around him. He bumped into people, and then apologized in a faraway manner that made them stare at him. Rock Lee was a well-known youngster around Konoha, and most of the villagers liked the friendly, enthusiastic young man. Many wondered why he was drifting along with a blissfully goofy expression on his face. 

 

How could he have explained? He couldn’t even take it in himself. This morning life had been normal. He’d gone into the forest to train as he always did. Nothing had been different. Then the Kazekage of Sand had come into the clearing, and everything had changed. Now – now he had a night with the extraordinary Gaara to look forward to. 

 

What Gods loved him so much, Lee wondered as he idled home in his blissful haze. Not only did he get to have sex with someone amazing and gorgeous like Gaara…but he got to be the other boy’s first, as well. Lee had never been anyone’s first before. And not only was the redhead a virgin, he didn’t know ANYTHING about sex. That was a big responsibility - and Lee wasn’t quite sure he was up to it. But he meant to try, for Gaara’s sake. He really liked the Kazekage. Maybe more than liked. He wanted to make this first time so special that Gaara would never forget it.

 

He finally arrived at his apartment and went inside. He stood in his living room for a moment, then finally roused himself enough to go and see what supplies he’d need to get before Gaara arrived tonight. Checking his bedside drawer told him that he needed to get some lube and condoms, although he knew that Gaara at least was clean. 

 

Although he was petty sure he was too, he didn’t have time to go get tests to make sure. He’d also get some of that massage oil that warmed when you rubbed it into your hands, and also some rose oil and violet incense to burn in the bedroom to relax the redhead. Although truth be told, it was probably him that needed to be relaxed more than Gaara…he was going to be horribly nervous tonight. Maybe if he listened to music or something until the Kazekage came…

 

He left to go to the store where he could buy the things he needed. He went quickly inside and grabbed the necessary supplies, then paid for it and darted outside again. But he was in such a hurry that he wasn’t looking where he was going, and ran smartly into someone else. They both went down, and a familiar voice yelled: “Hey, Fuzzy Eyebrows watch where you’re going! That really hurt!” 

 

To his horror, Lee looked down into a pair of light-blue eyes. Naruto blinked up at him. “Lee? Are you okay?” he asked in concern, since the other man had frozen atop of him.

 

Lee somehow got himself together enough to scramble off of Naruto. “Sorry, Naruto-kun,” he cried in remorse. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.” 

 

“Yeah, I can see that,” the blonde rubbed at his head, and then his eyes went straight to the bag that Lee was carrying. “What’d you get?” he asked. “Is it food?” he went on hopefully. 

 

Lee’s face turned brick-red, and horror welled up in him. If his friend looked in the bag, he’d have to try to explain the things in it. That could NOT happen. He’d die of embarrassment. Those talks with Gaara would seem like child’s play in comparison. 

 

He jumped backward, clutching the bag to his chest. “It’s nothing,” he stammered hurriedly. “I just got some…errr…cream for my toe fungus,” he blurted, not caring that that was embarrassing as well. It still wasn’t as embarrassing as the real things in the bag. 

 

Naruto gaped at him, and then began to laugh uproariously. “Fuzzy Eyebrows has toe fungus!” he yelped, pointing a finger at Lee as he howled.

 

He wished he could sink into the ground, and vowed to beat the living daylights out of Naruto as soon as was humanly possible. For now, though, he darted away down the street. “I’ll see you later, Naruto-kun!” he yelled over his shoulder as the fox boy stood there gaping after him in startlment at his sudden bolting. 

 

Lee scurried home and slammed his door after him. He stood leaning up against it, panting and shuddering at just how close he’d come to a thorough humiliation. Naruto was not discrete at all – if he’d seen what was in the bag, it would have been much worse than him yelling about toe fungus at the top of his lungs for everyone to hear. He sighed in acute relief as he took the bag into his bedroom to set it on the table next to the bed. Now all he had to do was get through the hours between now and the time when Gaara would knock at his door.

 

Gaara slid through the night like a fish through water. This was his time – when the rest of the world was in bed sleeping, he had always spent his nights drifting through the Sand Village in search of anything to lighten his load of boredom. Most people had no idea just how bad it could get when you didn’t have those six to eight hours where you didn’t have to think or do anything but sleep. He didn’t need much light to see by, and the street lamps were far more than enough as he made his way to Lee’s apartment.

 

All afternoon, when he was with his sister and Tsunade, all he could think about was what had happened in that clearing this afternoon. His body had liked that experience – and it wanted more. He’d been thankful for his long coat after awhile, since it hid the fact that he’d had an erection for most of the time he’d spent in the Hokage’s office. What Temari would have said if she’d seen that…Most likely she would have been happy that her baby brother was finally experiencing something that everybody else did, but he couldn’t have stood her delighted teasing. He remembered the way she'd always ribbed his brother about his girlfriends. He wasn’t up for that, not about something so new and strange to him. 

 

He arrived at the right door and knocked. It swung open, showing Lee there in the portal. “Come in,” he said, stepping back, and the Kazekage walked into the neat but rather eclectic apartment and stood in the tiny living room waiting while Lee closed the door behind him.

 

Lee turned around to look at him, and Gaara saw that the other boy seemed nervous. “Are you okay, Lee?” he asked quietly. 

 

“Yes,” the martial artist replied. “I’m just…” he ran a hand over his bowl haircut rather agitatedly. “I’m just a bit…erm…nervous.”

 

“Why?” Gaara asked. “You’ve done this before, haven’t you?”

 

“Well, yeah, but you haven’t!” the black-eyed boy cried. 

 

The Kazekage cocked his head in puzzlement. “Why should that fact make YOU nervous?” he asked.

 

“Because I want to do this right for you – I want you to really enjoy it,” Lee replied with a wave of his hands.

 

“Oh,” Gaara considered this. Then: “I’m sure that I’ll enjoy anything you do, Lee,” he said seriously. “I trust you.” 

 

The sincerity in his words took Lee’s breath away. “Gaara,” he breathed. Then he held out his hands to the redhead. “Come in here, then,” he said, and drew Gaara into his bedroom. 

 

Once inside, he turned to the Kazekage. “Take your clothes off like you did this afternoon,” he said. He began to remove his own bodysuit (he wasn’t wearing his jacket at the moment). Gaara did as he was told, carefully taking off his clothes once more. Lee indicated that he should drape them over a nearby chair. He stepped out of his pants last, and turned to see a naked Lee watching him avidly. He looked down at himself once more, still not sure what it was about him that made Lee look at him like that. “You’re so beautiful,” the martial artist breathed, and his hairless  
brows knit. 

 

“I am?” he said. 

 

Lee nodded. He walked toward Gaara, putting out his hand to set in on the redhead’s chest. “Yes, you are,” he replied. “Your skin…” his fingers began to ghost over it, making Gaara draw in a sharp breath at his touch. “Is so pale, so perfect. So soft. I could touch it forever,” his voice was reverent, and the Kazekage found himself frozen in place as Lee continued to catalogue his beauties. “These,” Lee’s questing fingers found a dark-pink nipple and caressed over it.

 

Gaara let forth a breathy moan at this touch, his back arching a little instinctively. “The color of them, the feel, the taste…” as he said this, Lee’s head bent and he extended his tongue. To Gaara’s startlement, he licked at the nipple he’d just been touching. 

 

The Kazekage moaned again, feeling a small surge of electricity from where Lee’s tongue touched him. It seemed to go straight to his groin, and his cock twitched slightly. He shivered. Lee’s hands spanned his waist as the other boy closed his mouth over the nipple and began to suckle at it tenderly. Gaara twisted and arched, his own hands going to clutch at Lee’s shoulders as he moaned the martial artist’s name in a breathy call full of desire. 

 

That sound made Lee shiver in turn, and he lifted his head to look into the red head’s face. Gaara was flushing, turning that dark pink as his startling eyes went languid and full of want. Lee groaned softly at the sight. He straightened up and closed his mouth over Gaara’s in a long, deep kiss, needing to taste that sweet mouth again. 

 

Gaara was taken by surprise for a moment, but reciprocated quickly enough. He pushed out his tongue this time, remembering the kiss in the alley, and his and Lee’s twined together as they both moaned into each others’ mouths. Gaara could have done this all night. He pushed his body close to Lee’s, wanting to feel the other boy’s bare skin on his own. One of Lee’s strong hands cupped the back of his head, and the other slid down his back to caress the cheeks of his ass. He liked the feel of that, and he pushed himself alternately forward and backward as their mouths mated and merged. 

 

He learned a great deal about kissing under Lee’s careful tutelage, and panted heavily by the time the martial artist finally drew away. Lee’s black eyes were burning hot. He was gasping for breath himself, his chest heaving. “Gaara,” he croaked in a voice deeper than normal, a voice the sand boy instinctively realized was a tone of desire. 

 

He shuddered faintly. “Lee,” he replied. “Lee, I like it when you kiss me.”

 

Lee shuddered himself, and his eyes closed briefly. Then he knelt down before Gaara, taking the redhead by surprise. “I have to do this,” he muttered as his hands settled on Gaara’s hips. “I have to taste you.” 

 

Before Gaara could ask him what he meant, Lee swooped in and kissed his stomach. Then a pink tongue drifted down to his lower belly, and he gasped at this sensation. It came closer and closer to the froth of red pubic hair, and his cock quivered as that darting appendage approached it. Then, to his shock, a tongue tip laved over the head of his erection and Gaara cried out incoherently. His fingers buried themselves in close-cropped black hair as Lee began to lap at the tip of his penis skillfully.

 

And when the martial artist’s mouth opened, and he sank down to take more of Gaara into his mouth, the redhead made a guttural sound of desperate pleasure even as his hips jerked wildly. Oh, this was good! Lee’s mouth was so hot, so tight, and so moist – it enclosed his sensitive member in such a pleasurable way that he could barely stand it. He cried out again and again, lost in bliss, his hips rocking as he drove more of himself into Lee’s mouth. “Lee!” he screamed, feeling another wild explosion building up inside of himself. He couldn’t take any more. “Oh, Gods, Lee!” 

 

The martial artist only increased his suction, his tongue rubbing against the bottom of Gaara’s cock insistently. The redhead came with a surge, his hips bucking as he spurted his seed into the martial artist’s welcoming mouth. It felt like his lifeblood was flowing from him as well, and his legs tried to buckle out from under him. He was dazed, lost, far gone from the intense pleasure he’d just experienced. Lee’s hands kept him from falling to the floor, and the black-eyed boy looked up at him in satisfaction. “Did you like that, Gaara?” he asked as he licked his lips.

 

Gaara nodded silently. ‘Like’ wasn’t the word he would have used for that amazing experience. 

 

Lee rose to his feet. “That’s called oral sex,” he explained. “Taking another guy into your mouth is called fellatio.”

 

“Oh. Should I do it to you?” Gaara asked when he could speak again. Lee shuddered at the very thought of being able to sink into Gaara’s soft pink mouth. "Not right now,” he replied. “Although I’d love it if you did that to me. But you won’t know what you’re doing, and I really need to…umm…have sex with you. Okay?” 

 

The redhead looked at Lee’s cock, which was leaking heavily and twitching wildly between his thighs. “All right,” he said. “What should I do?” 

 

“Get on the bed and lie down,” Lee told him. “I’ll do the rest this time.” 

 

The redhead nodded and did as instructed. He draped his beautiful white body onto the bedspread and waited to see what Lee would do. The black-eyed boy crawled up onto the bed and hovered over him, just looking his fill for a moment. Then he bent down and began to explore all of that gorgeous pale skin with his tongue, taking his time as he explored every bit of Gaara’s body. The redhead made soft sounds and squirmed for him, especially when he licked at the delicate skin at the crook of the Kazekage’s elbows and the backs of his knees. He avoided the cock slowly stirring to life between Gaara’s thighs, concentrating on kissing, licking, biting and sucking on all of that exquisite skin.

 

It tasted good, it was amazingly soft, and Gaara was so responsive that it made Lee feel like his head was going to explode. Or his groin, either one. He sucked a bruise out of one long white thigh, and the redhead moaned and arched desperately off the bed. “Leee,” this breathy sound made his cock throb. 

 

Gaara could barely speak any more; he was a quivering mass of sensations, lost under the martial artist’s touch and the feel of his lips gliding everywhere. He felt a tongue begin to lick at his balls, and he bit at his lips as his fingers dug into the bedspread on either side of him. Hands spread his legs wide, and a fingertip began to rub gently over the tight pink ring between his ass cheeks. Gaara was startled by this touch, even though he knew that Lee’s penis was supposed to go in there soon. But he found that he liked it, especially since Lee went on mouthing at his balls at the same time. 

 

He groaned as a slickened finger eased into him, his mouth opening as he struggled for breath. Lee’s free hand rose to close over his cock and stroke it lightly in time with that invading digit, and the redhead squirmed and writhed for him. Time passed. Lee had two fingers in him now, twisting and moving. Gaara arched his hips helplessly, animal sounds drawn from his throat. Finally he could take no more. “Lee, please!” he begged desperately.

 

He wanted something else, he wanted more – and he knew that the martial artist could give it to him. The martial artist was very glad to oblige him. Gaara’s body was so hot inside, so tight – he had to slide in there soon or he wouldn’t make it. He groaned as he moved away to fumble with a condom and the lube. Gaara was watching him with half-lidded mint-green eyes, his legs still spread. Lee returned like a boomerang as soon as he was ready. He slid in between the redhead’s legs, lifting them a bit. “This’ll hurt some,” he told Gaara. “But try to relax, okay?”

 

Gaara nodded. He wasn’t as afraid of pain as he had been when he was younger. He’d experienced it enough by now that it wasn’t the shock it had been when Sasuke’s Chidori attack had slammed through his sand shield and into his shoulder. Lee smiled down at him, that good guy smile that made him relax far more than anything else would have. Then the martial artist positioned himself carefully, and began to rub the tip of his cock against the sensitive ring insistently. Gaara liked the feel of that, and moaned as he lifted his hips. 

 

At last the head slipped in. Gaara made a small sound, and Lee froze. He wanted to do this right, and no matter how long it took he wasn’t going to hurt the redhead if he could help it. He looked down into the flushed face lying on the bed in front of him, seeing that it was twisted a bit. But Gaara’s eyes looked up at him, and he saw when the redhead’s jaw slowly relaxed and his muscles unclenched. Lee stroked Gaara’s thighs as he eased in a bit more. “Mmm, so tight,” he said breathily as Gaara stared up at him. 

 

Gaara felt stretched by the penis thrusting slowly into him. It hurt, and burned, and felt really weird. But at the same time, underneath all of that was the promise of pleasure. He wanted that; he needed it. He gritted his teeth and surged upward, driving several more inches of Lee’s cock into him. He cried out at the pain, and the martial artist said in horror: “Don’t move, Gaara!”

 

“It’s all right, Lee,” the redhead panted, stilling. The pain was worse, but at the same time…he twitched his hips a bit as Lee desperately tried to get him to hold still. He didn’t care, he just didn’t care. He wanted more.

 

Lee gave up and decided to get it over with. He used his immense strength to give a long forward thrust that buried him all the way inside of Gaara’s body. The redhead cried out hoarsely, but the martial artist was stilling. He held himself rigidly, one of his hands stroking Gaara’s cock. Oh, it felt good to be finally buried inside of the Kazekage. He struggled to contain himself until Gaara finally relaxed under him, and then wiggled. “Lee,” the redhead panted, and he knew he could move at last.

 

He began with slow, small thrusts into the tight body under him. Gaara panted and moaned for him, writhing a bit as the pain subsided totally and was replaced by pleasure. He bucked up toward Lee demandingly, and the martial artist picked up his pace a bit. The hand on his cock, the penis inside of him, it all felt so good he could hardly bear it…then Lee shifted, moved his hips in a certain way, and Gaara screamed in astonished pleasure as the tip of the martial artist’s cock struck something inside of him that made electricity go off in his brain. He wailed, he writhed, and he squirmed with desperate pleasure as Lee continued to drive in him over and over. This was too much, too good; he was going to die… 

 

He came so hard that he blacked out for several minutes. He fell limp on the bed as his semen splashed out over Lee’s caressing hand. The martial artist groaned as Gaara’s internal muscles convulsed and tightened around him. He gave two more wild thrusts, then came himself with a shudder of ecstasy. He stilled over Gaara’s body, panting, and his head hanging. “Oh, man…” he breathed.

 

Lee finally got up the strength to withdraw from the redhead’s body. He removed the condom with shaking fingers, tossing it into the trash. Then he crawled over the bed and cuddled up beside the still comatose Gaara, pulling the other boy’s body up against his. He buried his nose in the sweating dark red hair, closing his eyes contentedly. That had been the best thing he’d ever experienced. And he really, REALLY couldn’t wait to do it again as soon as possible.

 

 

He slept. Gaara was dreaming, a lovely dream in which he was walking along in the village of Sand and everyone had gathered to see him. They smiled at him in greeting, patted his shoulder, and were very happy that he was there. His brother and sister both hugged him, and Temari kissed his cheek. He felt so good that he never wanted to wake up. And then the dream got even better – he turned and saw a boy with close-cut black hair and big black eyes smiling at him, and Lee put out his hands. Gaara walked toward the other man, extending his own hands. Their fingers met, and Lee leaned toward him. “Gaara,” he said, just before he kissed the redhead…


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaara has to return to Sand. Will he and Lee get a happily ever after? Or is this the end for the Kazakage and the Leaf Ninja?

Gaara slowly awoke. Morning sunlight was filtering through the curtains over the windows of Lee’s apartment. He blinked, trying to understand. It was morning? Hadn’t he come to Lee’s apartment last night? The other ninja had shown him all about sex. It had felt very good. And then…nothing. Nothing until his eyes had opened and he’d seen that it was morning outside.

 

Astonishment rose up in him in a wave. Had he…had he actually…slept all night? For the first time in his seventeen years, had he gotten a full night’s sleep? It didn’t seem possible. He vaguely remembered dreaming – the first dream he’d ever had. Awe filled him. He’d slept. He’d dreamed. He’d done something that normal people did all the time, and that they all took for granted. He couldn’t quite believe it.

 

He heard a sound, and turned his head to see Lee snuggled up beside him in the bed. One of the martial artist’s hands was resting on his bare chest, and Lee looked so peaceful in sleep that Gaara didn’t want to disturb him. Besides, he wanted to hold onto the wonder of what had happened last night for just a little longer. While the sex had been amazing, the sleep he’d gotten had been even more astonishing and great in some ways.

 

Somehow, the redhead thought as he gazed at Lee’s sleeping face; he owed that to the other man as well. Lee had given him so many remarkable gifts in the last day and a half – how could he ever repay the martial artist for his kindness and generosity? He reached out with his fingertips to trace the soft pink lips that had kissed him so wonderfully last night. “Lee,” he said very quietly, but even this caress and soft utterance awoke the other man.

 

Black eyes flickered open, and when they saw his face Lee smiled sunnily. “Good morning, Gaara,” he said, before he yawned a bit. “I hope you weren’t bored last night. I’m sorry I fell asleep…” he added as he sat up and scratched at his black head a bit. 

 

Gaara stared at him, and then laughed softly. When Lee gave him a startled look, the redhead explained: “I wasn’t bored last night because…I was sleeping, Lee. All night. I just woke up.” 

 

His words made the dark eyes go wide in astonishment. Lee knew how monumental Gaara’s statement actually was. “Really?!” he said, searching Gaara’s face intently. 

 

The redhead nodded. “Yes. And it was wonderful. I dreamed…the first dream I’ve ever had. You were in it,” he added to Lee.

 

Lee smiled and embraced him. “Oh, Gaara, I’m so glad! Your first night’s sleep ever! Hopefully,” he added in excitement as he pulled back, “You’ll be able to sleep from now on. That’d be great.” 

 

His excitement made Gaara feel happy in turn. Someone besides his siblings cared about him enough to want the best for him. “Thank you, Lee,” he said intensely, trying to convey his gratitude for the many, many things that the martial artist had done for him.

 

Lee looked sheepish. “I didn’t do much,” he protested feebly. 

 

“Yes you did,” Gaara sat up and turned toward him, the sheet and blankets falling to his waist as he moved. He couldn’t convey with words what he was feeling, so he kissed Lee instead. The other ninja moaned and returned the kiss, and there were no more words between them for a short while. 

 

When they finally drew apart Lee was breathing heavy. He looked into those astonishing mint-green eyes. “Gaara? Did you want to…ummm…do it again?” he asked hopefully.

 

The redhead was all for this suggestion. “Yes,” he replied, his body stirring at the very thought of having sex with Lee again.

 

“Err…Would you like it if…I were the uke this morning?” Lee asked. “I mean, you’ve gotta be hurting a bit right now…” 

 

His words drew Gaara’s attention to his ass, which did hurt a bit from last night. It wasn’t a terrible discomfort, but the truth was he was curious about what it felt like to be on top. “I’d like that,” he said to Lee’s suggestion.

 

The black-eyed boy grinned and turned to rummage in his nightstand for the tube of lubrication. He liked being the uke just as much as he did the seme, and he couldn’t wait for Gaara to be inside of him. They could take turns – if the redhead wanted to continue having sex with him for the time the Kazekage was in Konoha. He hoped that Gaara would. Besides the fact that the sex was great already, teaching Gaara all about acts of love added a certain spice to the pleasure. He returned to his new lover, handing Gaara the tube. “I’ll show you what to do,” he whispered.

 

Gaara nodded, knowing that Lee would instruct him well in what he had to do to be the seme. He closed his hand over the tube, then leaned forward and kissed Lee again. What better way to wake up from his first night of real sleep ever? He thought as their lips met. 

 

He would have thought that even more a bit later, but he was too preoccupied. He thrust into Lee’s arching body (the martial artist was on all fours on his bed), groaning as his fingers tightened on the other man’s hips. This felt…so good! Lee was so tight inside, so hot…it felt like his cock was being clasped in a warmed glove, and each of his instinctual thrusts just built the pleasure up higher. Lee was moaning, one of his hands down between his own thighs as he jerked himself off. “Gaaarraaa,” he said, and the sound turned the redhead on even more. He threw his head back as he surged in once more, his fingers leaving dents in the skin of the martial artist’s hips as he held on for dear life. “Oh, I’m gonna…” Lee gasped, just before it got even better. 

 

He cried out, semen jetted out over the bedspread - and those muscles twitched and convulsed around Gaara’s cock in a manner that finished him off completely. He cried out deliriously as he came inside of Lee, falling forward over the other ninja’s back as his muscles gave out. He panted desperately as Lee also fell forward under his weight and the intensity of his own orgasm.

 

Gaara ended up lying atop Lee who was sprawled on the quilt moaning breathily. “Geez,” Lee breathed when he could speak again. “That was great. Don’t you think so?” he asked Gaara. 

 

The redhead murmured agreement against his neck. He didn’t want to withdraw from Lee, despite the fact that his cock was softening and going down. He nuzzled the sweating skin under his nose contentedly, and the martial artist made a happy sound under him. Finally, reluctantly, Gaara rolled to the side. His cock slipped out of Lee, who moaned again at its loss. Then he was rolling a bit so that they were face-to-face on the bed. Their fingers intertwined as black eyes met mint green. “So that’s  
what its like to be seme,” he said to Gaara softly. “Which did you like better?”

 

Gaara considered this. “I liked them both,” he said truthfully. “They both felt really good.” 

 

Lee nodded slightly. “That’s how I feel about it. So…do you want to take turns from now on?” 

 

Gaara nodded in turn. “Yes,” he said. Lee smiled, and they kissed once more.

 

 

 

The days after that first night passed so pleasantly for both Gaara and Lee that it seemed like they were living in the red-haired Sand ninja’s dream state. When he wasn’t with Tsunade and Temari, and Lee wasn’t training, they coupled often and hungrily. When they weren’t having sex, they were training or just hanging out with Naruto and their other friends in Konoha, laughing and having a good time. At night Lee held him as Gaara experienced the delights of sleeping and the wonder of dreams. 

 

He was blissfully happy – so much so that he had no reference for his current mental state. After all, in spite of the fact that the people of Sand had accepted him and his siblings showed their affection for him, no one had ever made Gaara feel quite like Lee did. No one had ever held him like this, touched him, kissed him; gently teased him to make him laugh…Lee was like a ray of sunshine in a life full of shadows for Gaara. He never wanted this feeling to end. 

 

But of course it had to. He was jolted out of his dreamy haze when he entered the rooms that he and Temari were sharing one morning a few weeks later(although he hadn’t spent any time in them at all since that first night with Lee) to find his sister packing her things. “There you are!” she exclaimed. She never asked how Gaara spent his nights, since she was used to her brother wandering around while other people slept. “You should get packed. We’re leaving in a few hours.” 

 

Panic seized him, and he froze in the doorway. “Leaving?” he said in a voice that was choked and tight with fear. 

 

She glanced back at him over her shoulder. “Yes. We’re going back to Sand. You knew that – so why are you so surprised? Come on, Gaara, hurry up,” she added impatiently. 

 

No, no, no. He couldn’t breathe. His chest was heaving, but no air was getting into it. They were leaving, LEAVING! Going back to Sand, not to return to Konoha for at least four months. He hadn’t thought – he’d been so happy – he’d forgotten the fact that he was Kazekage of Sand for awhile. He whirled around and ran back out the door, dimly hearing his sister yelling after him. He had to get to Lee! Surely the martial artist would know what to do. Surely he could fix this. 

 

Terror gave his feet wings as he ran back to the apartment he’d just let not twenty minutes ago. He burst through the door, making Lee turn from his stove where he was cooking his breakfast to give Gaara a puzzled look. “What’s the matter?” he asked in concern when he saw the redhead’s expression. 

 

“Lee,” he choked out. “Lee,” he staggered across the floor and into the martial artist’s arms, as Lee stared at him in rising concern. 

 

He hugged Gaara close and asked: “What is it? What’s wrong? Gaara!” he could feel the redhead shaking in his arms. 

 

“Leee…I have to go,” Gaara moaned, burying his face in Lee’s shoulder. He clung to the other man desperately. “I have to go back to Sand today.” 

 

The agony in his voice made Lee’s stomach lurch, as did his news. Like Gaara, he’d been enjoying himself without thinking about the future. But of course Gaara had to go back to Sand, he was the Kazekage… “Oh, Gaara,” he said softly, holding the redhead close. “I never thought,” he sighed sadly. “I guess I just deliberately forgot about the fact that you’d have to go back to Sand.”

 

“Lee,” this miserable whimper made the martial artist tighten his arms and close his eyes. Gaara’s shoulders were heaving, and he realized in shock that the redhead was CRYING. He reared back and saw that tears were streaming down Gaara’s face. “I don’t want to go – I don’t want to leave you,” he choked. “Please.” 

 

Lee began to tremble a bit himself. The sight of Gaara crying because he didn’t want to leave Lee – his heart contracted. “Gaara,” he said hoarsely. “I don’t want you to go either. I – I love you, Gaara.” 

 

Stunned silence, as Gaara froze at those words. He’d never thought to hear them from anyone…his uncle had made it clear when he’d tried to kill Gaara that the boy hadn’t a hope of anyone feeling that emotion for him. It was why he had the red tattoo on his forehead – the word for ‘love’, the thing he could never have…and while his siblings liked him and had affection for him, they never said: “I love you, Gaara,” to him. He’d always thought that he was unworthy of love, so that was why he’d never get it from anyone… But now Rock Lee had said it. Gaara was reeling, his world shattering and reforming around him. The pieces were falling into new shapes and an animal sound of agony burst from his throat. To have heard those words coming from someone’s mouth…he simply COULDN’T leave Lee now. He grabbed the martial artist tight, holding on desperately. “Lee, Lee, don’t make me go. Please,” he sounded like the small child he’d been when his uncle had destroyed his remaining illusions and shattered his soul. 

 

Lee held the shaking body tight. “Gaara, you have to go,” he said, grief in his voice. “You have to. You’re the Kazekage…and I’m a ninja of Konoha. I’m so sorry, Gaara,” he was crying now too, nearly blinded by his tears. 

 

“No, no, no,” he was saying aloud the words that had screamed through his head when Temari had told him to pack because they were leaving. Gaara chanted them as though he could somehow stop what was happening just by willing it away. 

 

“We’ll still get to see each other when you come back to Konoha,” Lee said mournfully. He was trying to see any light in a dark tunnel, but it wasn’t working very well. 

 

Gaara made another animal sound and tried to burrow into his neck. The martial artist sighed. “Gaara, I don’t know what else to do. I’m so sorry. I don’t want you to go,” he added almost involuntarily. 

 

“I won’t go,” Gaara growled, clinging top him. “I WON’T. They can get another Kazekage.” 

 

Lee closed his eyes again, wishing that things could be that easy. Sand needed Gaara, its ruler and protector. It would be too selfish of him to want Gaara to stay at the expense of the people of that other hidden village. “Gaara, you have to go. But…” he paused, and the redhead looked at him out of bloodshot eyes as he waited to see what Lee would say. 

 

“What?” he croaked. 

 

“I’ll go and talk to Tsunade-sama. Maybe she’ll be able to come up with some good ideas. You should go and talk to your sister,” he added.

 

Gaara looked mutinous, but Lee shook his head firmly. “She’ll be worried about you, Gaara. You know that. Go and talk to her, and I’ll go to the Hokage. All right?” 

 

Gaara reluctantly agreed, and dragged his feet out the door. He left with many backward glances at Lee, as though he were afraid that he’d never get to see the martial artist again. Lee sighed as he turned off his stove and left his apartment to go and talk to the Hokage. Somehow in these past few weeks, he’d never once thought about this very large problem that they’d soon have. Maybe because he’d never imagined that it would get this serious between Gaara and himself. But now his heart was squeezing inside of his chest at the thought of Gaara leaving and returning to Sand. He tried to be hopeful that Tsunade would be able to help him somehow, but he just couldn’t see the bright side of this situation. What could the Hokage really do? Gaara had to go back – and he was a ninja of Konoha. Those were the facts. 

 

 

Tsunade looked surprised when a miserable-looking Rock Lee trailed into her office. “What can I do for you?” she asked him in concern, studying his face. 

 

His black eyes fell to the floor as his shoulders slumped. “Tsunade-sama,” he said, sounding as unhappy as he had when she’d first met him before his surgery to restore his spine. “Ummm…” 

 

“Speak up, Lee,” she said gently but firmly. “Tell me what’s going on.” 

 

So he did. She listened as he described what had happened between himself and Gaara over the last few weeks, and how the red-haired ruler of Sand had come to him this morning frantic and crying. Tsunade folded her fingers in front of her thoughtfully. “I see,” she said when he trailed off. It was clear to her that Lee thought that there was nothing that she could do for them. After all, Gaara did have to go back to Sand. Her lips twitched and her brown eyes gleamed behind her fingers. She was going to surprise the socks off of him. “Well,” she began, “I don’t see that there’s anything we can do about Gaara – he has to go back to Sand.”

 

Lee nodded, still staring at the floor. He looked so pathetic that she just wanted to pat his shoulders in sympathy. “So…” she went on briskly, making him look up at her at last, “You’ll just have to go to Sand instead. That’s the only solution I can see.” 

 

His brows contracted in puzzlement. “What…? But…?” He began.

 

“But you’re a ninja of Konoha. Your loyalty is to this village,” she said. He nodded. 

 

“Which is why I’ll have to make you a permanent ambassador from Konoha to Sand,” the Hokage replied impishly.

 

His black eyes went so wide that they looked like saucers. “Tsunade-sama?” he asked in astonishment. 

 

She grinned at him. “You’ll come back here with Gaara every time he comes and report to me,” she explained to him. “As for your more personal relationship with the Kazekage…well, that is your business, not Konoha’s,” she went on merrily. 

 

His mouth opened and closed a few times as he adjusted to the fact that she’d actually found a solution. “Are you sure?!” he blurted out hopefully. 

 

She nodded. “Yes, why not? Our alliance is getting stronger every day. It’s about time that I appointed a permanent ambassador. It might as well be you,” she went on. “I know you’ll do a good job, Lee.” 

 

He took in a shuddering breath. “Thank you, Tsunade-sama!” he cried, joy in his voice. He bowed so deeply to her that his nose practically touched the floor.

 

She laughed. “You’re welcome. Now, don’t you think you should go and tell the Kazekage about your appointment?” 

“Yes!” he cried, running out of her office as though his feet had sprouted wings. Tsunade chuckled as she returned to her endless paperwork. Sometimes, she mused, it was good to be the Hokage.

 

 

Lee ran as swiftly as he could to the building that housed the v.i.p.s who came to Konoha. His heart was thundering in his chest, and he couldn’t seem to stop grinning. When Gaara had burst into his apartment not an hour before, in a state of pure panic, Lee had been terribly afraid that nothing could be done to help either him or Lee himself. After all, the Kazekage had to go back to Sand today. 

 

He’d lost it himself when the redhead had begun to cry, a sight he’d never imagined that he’d see. But when he’d trailed into the Hokage’s office he truly hadn’t believed that Tsunade would be able to help them. But she had. She’d made Lee a permanent ambassador to Sand from Leaf, and he’d get to come back home to report to her (and see all of his friends and his sensei) two or three times a year. Otherwise he’d live in Sand with Gaara. He just couldn’t wait to tell the upset redhead that he didn’t have to go home without Lee. Poor Gaara had been losing it at even the thought of being parted from him. And Rock Lee could admit that he’d been pretty bad, too. He loved Gaara, he really did. The thought of being separated from his new lover for months at a time had brought him more than a bit of panic as well.

 

He arrived at the building and darted inside. Coming to the door of the suite that Gaara and Temari were staying in, he knocked vigorously on the door. “Gaara?” he called. “Are you in there?” 

 

The door flew open, and an angry blonde stood there in the portal glowering at him. Lee cringed slightly as Temari’s glare intensified. “You!” she barked, pointing an accusatory finger at him. “Did you do that to Gaara?” 

 

Lee gulped. “Uh…do what?” he asked, wishing he could run away from his lover’s formidable sister. 

 

“Make him like this! First he ran away when I told him that we were going back to Sand, and then he came back and shut himself in his room! I can’t get him to come out, and he won’t talk to me! So,” she eyed him suspiciously. “Did you have anything to do with this?” 

 

Lee began to stutter; partially because it WAS his fault that Gaara was being like this. “Um…uh…I-I n-need to talk to G-Gaara,” he said, his black eyes wide with fear as he stared at her like a rabbit caught in a trap while the hunter looms near. 

 

Her brows drew down. “About what? You’re that Lee kid, aren’t you? Do you know why Gaara’s being like this?” 

 

“Yes,” he managed to say. “B-But I came to tell him that it’s going to be okay. Please,” he said, bowing low. “Please let me speak to him. It’s important.”

 

Silence. Then: “Very well. If you can get him to come out of his room and talk to me, you can come in. But I’ll be watching you,” she continued ominously.

 

He gulped heavily but walked into the sitting room. She pointed at a closed door. “That’s his room.” She said.

 

Lee hurried over to the closed door and set his hands on it. He called through the wood: “Gaara? It’s me, Lee. I talked to Tsunade-sama! She came up with an idea, Gaara! It’ll be okay, I swear!” he cried urgently, worry in his voice. “Please talk to me,” he added, wondering if he should break the door to get inside. What was the redhead doing in there? What if he’d hurt himself in his despair? He bit at his lip as he waited. 

 

But the door finally opened. Gaara stood there in the opening, tear tracks still drying on his porcelain cheeks. His eyes stared at Lee in a desperate plea. “What did she say?” he asked in a voice gone hoarse from weeping. 

 

Lee suddenly smiled, a sight like the sun coming out from behind clouds. “She has appointed me as a permanent ambassador from Konoha to Sand,” he told the other boy. “I’ll come back with you when you come to Konoha to report to her, but otherwise I’ll be living in Sand to attend to my duties. I’ll be staying with you if you’ll have me,” he added more softly to the redhead.

 

Silence. Gaara simply stared at him as though he were an alien life form. Then, just as Lee was starting to worry again, Gaara surged forward and caught Lee up in a tight hug. “Lee,” he said against the martial artist’s neck. “I’ve never…I thought that the universe didn’t like me enough for something like this to happen to me,” he went on. 

 

Lee’s fingers rose to stroke the auburn hair tenderly. “I’m happy too,” he said. “I didn’t want to be parted from you, Gaara. I love you,” he said again, and felt the shiver that ran through the other boy’s frame at his words.

 

“Lee,” he whispered, clinging to the black-eyed boy for all he was worth. But their happy daze was broken into by a voice demanding: “Just what the hell is going on here, Gaara?” they both turned to see Temari standing with her hands on her hips, glaring at them. 

 

Her eyes went from her brother to Lee, taking in their clinch. Her expression was thunderous. “You,” she hissed at Lee. “What did you do to my brother?” 

 

Lee gulped again, his mouth working. But it was Gaara who answered. “He had sex with me, Temari,” he said to his sister. Her mouth fell open, and her eyes went rather wide as the redhead continued quietly: “He taught me everything about sex. And I’ve been sleeping, too – all through the night,” he went on. “Because of Lee. Moreover, he’s coming back to Sand with us as an ambassador, and he’s going to be living with me,” he added firmly. 

 

Her mouth slowly closed. “I see,” she said flatly. It was hard to tell what she was thinking. Lee began to sweat gently. “So you deflowered my brother? Had your wicked way with him?” her eyes went to Lee, who had to work not to cringe again. 

 

“I asked him to,” Gaara replied, getting in front of Lee to protect him from Temari’s wrath.

 

“Uh huh,” she was still staring at Lee with a peculiar expression on her face. “So my brother, who knew nothing about sex and has never shown any interest in either boys or girls, suddenly starts sleeping with someone?” her voice was still emotionless, and Lee wondered if she’d hurt him bad. He couldn’t fight back, not against her. She was Gaara’s sister, after all. She drew herself up. There’s only one thing I can say," she began in a dark tone of voice. Her eyes met Lee’s. “Thank you,” she went on, and both boys gaped at her incredulously. 

 

She laughed, folding her arms over her chest. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited for Gaara to start showing some interest in ANYBODY. I’ve thrown girls at him, but I also tried boys before this – and he never seemed the least bit interested at all. It was frustrating,” she began, her eyes twinkling. “I was beginning to think that he was going to die a dried-up, lonely, old virgin at this rate. Whatever miracle you managed to make him wake up, I’ll be forever indebted to you,” she told Lee, who just blinked at her in disbelief. “And now you’re coming to Sand to be with him? Gods, that’s so sweet!”  
she added happily. “All of Sand is going to think that this is the most romantic thing they’ve ever heard. When you guys get married…” 

 

“Married?!” both Gaara and Lee yelped almost as one. 

 

She eyed them both. “That’s right. Married. You two are NOT living in sin,” she added firmly. “It would look bad for the Kazekage to do so. Also, once you two get hitched that endless stream of eligible girls will dry up,” she added to her brother. 

 

Gaara began to look intrigued. He explained to the puzzled Lee: “For the last year or so I’ve had girls showing up at my door from just about everywhere. Their fathers want them to marry me to make alliances with Sand. Of course Temari advised me not to marry any of them anyway, since if I picked just one the others’ parents’ would be offended. But since I didn’t want to marry any of them anyway….” He added with a grimace, “That was all right. But if I marry you, they’ll stop sending their daughters to me. Would you marry me, Lee?” he asked hopefully. 

 

Lee was taken aback. A marriage proposal? From the Kazekage of Sand? But somehow he pulled himself together. “I don’t mind getting married if it means I can be with you,” he told Gaara. 

 

The boy’s face softened, and he stepped up to Lee so that he could kiss the black-eyed boy. Temari looked satisfied as the two boys became lost in each other for awhile. She’d never imagined that she’d ever see her brother like this. When they finally broke apart, she remarked dryly: “He can wear the Consort ring once you’re married, although it will have to be sized for him…we’ve never had a female Kazekage YET,” she went on in explanation to Lee, “So the ring is sized for a woman’s finger. But before that, you should buy him an engagement ring,” she told her brother. “Preferably here in Konoha so that he’ll be wearing it once we get to Sand. You can present him as a Fait Accompli. So we should go to a jewelers.”

 

“Okay,” Gaara said, willing to go along with just about anything now that Lee was coming to Sand with him. 

 

“I should go and pack,” the martial artist blurted, “And tell everybody I’m leaving, including Gai-sensei.” 

 

“What’s your ring size? We’ll pick something out for you while you get your stuff together and tell everybody,” Temari said. 

 

Lee gave them his ring size before leaving to pack whatever he’d need to take to Sand and also to track down all of his friends and his sensei to tell them that he was going to be an ambassador to Sand - and that he was marrying the Kazekage at the same time. Not surprisingly, many of them were shocked. Many had not known that Lee liked boys as well as girls, and him and Gaara’s romance had been so quick and quiet that no one had had an inkling about it. And now they were getting MARRIED! 

 

Naruto was especially stunned. The blonde boy looked like his brain had gone into overload when Lee told him his news. It took him twenty minutes to recover and begin to accept the fact that his two friends were getting married – just like Iruka and Kakashi. But once he did, he promised to come to the wedding when it happened. And he whacked Lee on the back almost hard enough to put him in the dirt (if he hadn’t been so strong himself) as he congratulated the martial artist.

 

Gai was amazingly proud of his student’s news; he told Lee that while he’d miss the boy, he just KNEW that Lee would do an excellent job as Konoha’s ambassador. Moreover, he’d also be a wonderful husband to the Kazekage as well. Lee clasped hands with his teacher, who was crying a little (he was too) and then reluctantly drew himself away. He had to meet Gaara and Temari at the gates soon. Gai promised to attend the wedding of his prodigy, and then he gave the boy a bone-crushing hug and sent him on his way. 

 

Lee felt as light as air as he ran through the streets toward the gates, with his backpack stuffed with personal belongings perched on his back. His heart jumped when he saw Gaara and Temari waiting for him, especially when those mint-green eyes lit up at the sight of him. He grinned as he came up to them, panting. “Sorry,” he said. “I hope I’m not late.”

 

“Nope. Gaara here insisted on looking at almost every ring in the store,” Temari replied dryly. “So we just got here too. Give it to him,” she added to her brother.

 

Gaara pulled a box from his pocket, looking almost shy as he handed it to Lee. The martial artist took it and flipped it open. When he saw the ring, he gasped a little. It was so…beautiful…It was a platinum band set with ebony chips the same color as Lee’s eyes, and tiny diamonds in two lines on either side of the chips. It was a surprisingly masculine-looking ring. He lifted it out of the box in awe, and put it on his finger. It fit perfectly.

 

“Do you like it?” Gaara asked rather anxiously. 

 

“I love it,” Lee replied, running his fingers over the ring. “But…” he hesitated.

 

“What?” Temari asked as Gaara looked anxious again.

“I’d really like to buy Gaara ring too,” Lee said to them both. 

 

The redhead looked surprised, then he relaxed and nodded. Temari looked uncertain. “Well, only the woman is supposed to get an engagement ring…but since you’re not a woman,” she added as Lee looked at her, “I suppose this is a bit different. Okay, once we get to Sand you can buy Gaara an engagement ring. Right?”

 

Lee nodded, feeling pleased. He wanted to be able to look at the ring on Gaara’s slender finger and know that this was the symbol of the fact that the Kazekage was his fiancé. “Shall we go now?” Temari said impatiently. “They’ll be expecting us back in Sand. I don’t want Kankerou to worry about us.”

 

Gaara stirred. “Yes, let’s go home,” he said to the other two. Temari started to turn away, and then stopped when her brother extended a slender hand to the martial artist. Lee took it unhesitantly, their fingers twining together.

 

She stared at them for a moment, and then smiled. “Come on, then, you two,” she said affectionately, seeing that she was going to like Gaara’s fiancé a great deal. Who would ever have imagined that her brother would hold hands with someone? The two boys followed her down the road, hand-in-hand as they walked toward their future together. 

 

A/N: There might be a sequel to this, and a baby in Gaara and Lee's future, if enough people are interested. Leave me a comment and let me know if you are. - DL

The End


End file.
